Alkylation process



Feb. 18, 1958 J. T. KELLY Erm.

ALKYLATION PROCESS Filed June 15, 1956 Unite States ALKYLATIoN' PROCESS Application .lune 13, 1956, Serial No. 591,223

13 Claims. (Cl. 260-6S3.44)

This invention relates to the reaction of isoparaflins or aromatic hydrocarbons and olefins. More particularly it" relates to the alkylation of isobutane with ethylene.

In the petroleum industry today, the octane race has placed al strain on facilities and materials needed to make gasoline meeting present day 'automotivel engine requirements. One of the remaining sources of high octane components is the product of the alkylation of isobutane and ethylene. carry out, particularly on a large scale.

An object of the invention is the alkylation of isoparaflins, particularly isobutane, with olens, particularly ethylene. Another object is the alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with olens. apparent in the course of the detailed description;

The alkylation of isoparafns or aromatic hydrocarbons with oleiins is carried out in the presence of a novel catalyst pair. triuoride.

containing water of hydration. Although` the second component 4of the. catalyst pair is spoken of as a. metalA molybdate hydrate, it is believed that the solid member is more properly a complex of the. hereinafter deiined metal molybdate hydrate and BFa; the EP3 is believed to complex with some or all of. the hydrate water present in the metal molybdate hydratesalt. More than the` amount of BF3 needed to complex the water of yhydration is necessary to obtain the desired catalytic effect.

Boron triluoride is one member of the catalyst pair. Commerical grade anhydrous BF3 is suitable` for` use as this member of the catalyst pair.

The other member of the catalyst pair, hereinafterspoken. of as the solid member, is a metal molybdate hydrate, i. e., a metal molybdate salt containing water of hydration. rlhe salt may be used as a tine powder, as pelletsor may be supported ona solid carrier suchas alumina, charcoal, silica gel silica carbide, etc. Not all metal molybdates which contain water of hydration are suitable, nor are all metal ions suitable. The particular metal ion components ot" the molybdate salt hydrates are cobaltous and ferric. ln determining the eiiective members, it` has been considered that the catalyst pairs which did not produce a yield, on a weight percent basis on ethylene charged, when isobutane and ethylene were contacted, of 100% or more, were unsuitable.

It is necessary that the above-defined metal molybdate salts contain hydrate water. The anhydrous salts do not have any promotional effect on the activity of BFg. in those cases wherein a salt may exist in forms `having various amounts of water of hydration present, it is not necessary that( any particular hydrate be used. Apparently it is necessary only that some water of hydration be presenti.

The B113A and the'- defined salt react to` form a` solid material containing complexedliii. thesalt by This alkylation is not easy to` Other objectsA will become4 One member of the catalyst pair: is boron. The other member of the catalyst pair is a: metal molybdate hydrate, that is, a metal molybdate` salt.`

atent ice drate and EP3 areV contacted in a closed vessel, the EP3 partial pressure drops very rapidly at rst and then gradually approaches a constant value. it appears that a very rapid reaction between the BFa and some of the water of hydration takes place. This initially rapid reaction is then followed by a relatively slow reaction be.- tween the remaining molecules of hydrate water and additional B123. lt appears that when the salt hydrate is exposed to BF3, even in the presence` of hydrocarbon reactants, eventually all of the water of hydration will become associated with BF3 on about a 1 mole. of BF,` per mole of hydrate water basis.

A complex ofthe detined salt hydrate and BF3 is not an effective catalystfor the alkylation in the absence of free-EP3. Free-EP3 is to be understood as` B123 existing` in the reaction zone which is not complexed with the defined metal salt-hydrate. As soon as the salt hydrate has complexed with some EP3, the beneficial catalytic effect exists. Thus free-EP3 may exist in the reaction zone, as evidenced by the formation of alkylate, even though all of the hydrate water has not been complexed. In a batch system, wherein less BF3` is present than is theoretically required to complex all the water of hydration present in the salt hydrate, eventually no alkylation will occur as charge is added', since all of the BF3 will become complexed.

In general, the process is carried' out utilizing an amount of BFa which is in exces of that required to complex with all the hydrate water present in the contacting zone, namely, in excess of about 1 mole of B133 per mole of hydrate water present. More than the minimum amount of tree-BFQ` is beneficial, in fact, the yield of alkylate increases rapidly with increase in free-BFS present, up to a maXi-mumamount. The amount of free-BFE, used in dependent somewhat upon the reactants themselves. However, when reacting isoparaiiins and oletins, theV free-BE, usage is desirable, set out on a EP3 to olefin weight ratio of at least about 0.2. In other words, at least about 0.2 lb. of` free-EP3 per lb, of olen charged to the alkylation zone is desirable. About 1.5 parts by weight of free-BF per` part of olefin charged appears tol be about the` desirable maximum usage of EP3. It is preferred to usebetween about 0.35 and l part by weight` of free-BFaper part by weight of oleiin when utilizing theV lower molecular weight olefins,` such as ethylene and propylene. v

The process may be carried out at any temperature be.- low the temperature at which the salt hydrate decomposes, that is, loss of all its water of hydration. The' temperature of operation may be as low as 20 C. or: even lower. Temperatures as high as 150 C. and even higher may be used with some of the salt hydrates which, have relatively high decomposition temperatures. More usually the temperature of operation will be betweeny about 0 C. and 100 C. Lower temperatures appear to favor the formation of the hydrocarbons having 6 to 7 carbon atoms. It is preferred to operate at a temperature,` between about 25 C. and 40 C.

Suliicient pressure is maintained on the system to keep a substantial portion of the hydrocarbons charged in the liquid state. The process may be carried out at relatively low pressures, for example, p. s. i., or it may be carried out at elevated pressures, for example, 2000 p. s. i., or more. In general, pressures will be between` about 200 and 1000 p. s. i. and preferably between about 300 and 600 p. s. i.

The contacting ofthe isoparafiin or aromatic hydro carbon and the olefin in the presence of the dened catalyst pair is continued until an appreciable amount of. alkylate has been formed In batch reactions, it is possible to convert essentially 100% of the olen by a sufficiently long period of contacting. When operating in a continuous iiow system, it may be desirable to have a time of contacting such that substantial amounts of olen are not converted and obtain the complete conversion of the olefin by a recycle operation. The time of reaction will be determined by the type of hydrocarbons charged, the ratio of isoparaiiin or aromatic to olefin, the degree of mixing in the contacting zone and the catalyst usage. A few tests will enable one to determine the optimum time of contacting for the particular system of operating conditions being tried.

The reactants in the hydrocarbon charge to the alkylation process are isoparafiin, or aromatic and olefin. The olefin contains from 2 to about 12 carbon atoms. Examples of suitable olefins are ethylene, propylene, butene 2, hexene and octene; in addition to these, the olefin polymers obtained from propylene and/or butylene are also suitable for use in the process, such as codimer,

propylene trimer, propylene tetramer and butylene tri-mer. *l

It is preferred to operate with ethylene or propylene.

The aromatic hydrocarbons must be alkylatable by the particular olefin used. It is self-evident that an aromatic hydrocarbon which contains alkyl substituents positioned so that steric hinderance would prevent or greatly reduce the possibility of alkylation with the particular olefin shoud not be subjected to the process. Examples of particularly suitable aromatic hydrocarbons are benzene, toluene, xylene, trimethylbenzenes, and the other alkyl analogues, such as propyl and butyl; the naphthalene usable as one reactant in the process contain from 4 to 8 carbon atoms.

In the isoparaiiin-olefin system, the alkylation reaction is more favored as the mole ratio of isoparafiin to olefin increases. In general, the isoparatiin to olefin mole ratio in the hydrocarbon charge should be iat least l. More than this amount is good and it is desirable to have an isoparaffin to olefin ratio between about 2 and 25 and in some cases more, for example, as much as 50. It is preferred to operate with an isoparaliin to olefin mole ratio of between about 5 and l5.

The presence of non-reactive hydrocarbons in the hydrocarbon charge is not detrimental unless the reactants become excessively diluted. For example, the isoparaliin may also contain isomers of the normal configuration. The oleiins may contain paraiiins of the same carbon number. Mixtures of two or more isoparafiins or two or more aromatic hydrocarbons, or two or more olefins may be charged. In general, when a particular product distribution is desired, it is preferable to operate with a single isoparatiin and a single olefin, for example, technical grade isobutane and ethylene, both of about 95% purity.

The reactants may be mixed together before they are charged into the reactor. Or, they may be charged into the reactor separately. Or, a portion of the olefin may be blended with the isopara'in or aromatic before introduction into the reactor and the remainder of the olefin injected into the reactor. The charge may be introduced all at one point into the reactor or it may be introduced :at two or more points. The alkylauon reaction is somewhat exothermic and temperature control is facilitated by introducing the olefin into the reactor at more than one point.

The EP3 member of the catalyst pair may be premixed 1 tion of the solid hydrate salt.

with the isoparain and olefin before introducing these into the reactor but this should not be done when an extremely reactive system such 4as isobutanes and butylene or aromatic hydrocarbons and oleiins are being used; or when an olen that is very rapidly polymerizable, such as isobutylene, is being used. The B133 may be blended with the isoparafiin reactant and introduced into the reactor with this member when the isoparatiin and the olefin are being introduced separately. The BFS may also be introduced directly into the reaction zone independently from the hydrocarbons charged. rl`he BF3 may be introduced into the reactor at a single point or at several points to help control temperature and rear tion rate.

The reactor may be a vessel providing for a batch-type reaction, i. e., one wherein the desired amount of isoparatfin or aromatic and olefin are charged to a closed vessel containing the catalyst pair and the vessel then maintained at the desired temperature for the desired time. At the end of this time, the hydrocarbon product mixture and unreacted materials are withdrawn from the vessel and processed to separate the alkylate product from the unreacted materials and lower and higher molecular weight materials. The reactor may be a. fixed bed type wherein the reactants and free-EP3 are flowed through the bed of the hydrate salt member of the catalyst pair, the space velocity being controlled so that the desired amount of reaction is obtained during the passage of the reactants through the bed of hydrate salt. Under some conditions, a moving bed of hydrate salt may be utilized. In still another set of circumstances, a tiuidized bed of hydrate salt may be utilized with the incoming stream of reactants providing the energy for the iiuidiza- Other methods of operation common in the catalytic refining aspects of the petroleum industry utilizing solid catalyst may be readily devised.

It has been pointed out that the solid member of the catalyst pair is really a complex of the metal salt hydrate and BFS; the EP3 apparently reacting with the water of hydration. The complex may be preformed, by exposing the salt hydrate to B123 for a time sufficient to introduce some BF3 into the solid component o1' even enough to complex all of the water of hydration; this being done before the reactants are introduced into the reaction zone or even before the solid member of the catalyst pair is positioned in the reaction zone. The complex may be formed in situ during a batch-type reaction. ln the batch-type operation, it is convenient to introduce all the BF3 into the reaction vessel at once. This amount of BF3 is sufiicient not only to complex with the water of hydration but also provide the desired amount of free-BPB. In a iiow system, the solid member may be prepared in situ by charging fresh hydrate salt to the reaction zone and forming the complex during the initial passage of reactants and BF3 over the salt hydrate. Some alkylation reaction occurs even though the salt hydrate has not taken up sufficient B123 to complex all the water of hydration. As the iiow of reactants and EP3 continues over the solid member, eventually the salt hydrate will become saturated with respect to BF3. At this time, the amount of BF3 introduced into the reaction zone should be cut back to that amount of free-BFa desired, under this particular set of operating conditions.

The illustrative embodiment set out in the annexed ligure forms a part. of this specification. It is pointed out that this embodiment is schematic in nature, that many items of process equipment have been omitted, since these may be readily added by those skilled in this art and that this embodiment is only one of many which may be devised, and that the invention is not to be limited to this particular embodiment.

In this embodiment, it is desired to produce a high yield of diisopropyl for use as ablending material for gasoline. Ethylene from source 11 is passed by way of line 12 into mixer 13. Liquid isobutane from source 14 is passed by way of lines 16 and 17 into mixer 13. Both the ethylene and the isohutane are about 90% purity, the remainder being n-butane and ethane, with trace amounts ot other components found in materials derived from petroleum refining sources. Mixer 13, in this instance, is a simple orifice-type mixer suitable for intermingling a liquid and a gas, or two liquids. Recycle isobutane from line 18 is passed by way of line 17 into mixer 13. In this embodiment, the molar ratio of isobutane to ethylene is` 6.

From mixer 13', thev blend of isobutane and ethylene is passed by Way of line 19, through heatV exchanger 21, where the temperature of the blend is adjusted to 30 C. The temperature of the blend leaving exchanger 21 is somewhat lower than the reaction temperature, since there is a heat rise in the reactor due to exothermic reaction. From exchanger 21, the stream of isobutane and ethylene is passed by way of lines 22 and 23 into the top of reactor 24.V

Boron triiluoride is passed from source 26 by way of valved line 27 and line 28 into line 23, where it meets the stream of isobutane and ethylene. If desirable, a mixer may be introduced into line 23 to insure complete intermingling of the B123 and the hydrocarbon charged. Recycle BF?l is introduced from line 29 by way of lines` 28 and 23. In this embodiment, the salt hydrate is completely complexed with respect to BF3 and only the necessary free-EP3 is introduced by way of line 28. The weight ratio of free-BFS from line 28 to ethylene present in line 23 is 1.1.

Reactor 24 is shown as a shell and tube type vessel. Hydrate salt is contained in the tubes 31. The alumina balls 32 and 33 are positioned above and below the headers in the reactor to maintain the hydrate salt within the tubes. In order to maintain the temperature in the reactor at substantially 35 C., water is introduced into the shell side by way of line 36 and is withdrawn by way of line 37.

In this embodiment, the reactor was charged with cobaltous molybdate containing one mole of water of hydration per mole of molybdate, i. e., CoMoO4.H2O. The hydrate salt was preformed into pellets about one-eighth inch in diameter and about one-eighth inch in height. Some silica was present to act as a lubricant in the extrusion of the pellets. The salt hydrate was contacted with BF3 in an amount such that all of the water of hydration was complexed with B113. This operation was carried out before reactants were introduced into the reactor. The reactor pressure was maintained at 600 p; s. i. This permits maintaining the isobutane and substantially all of the ethylene inthe liquid state.

The product hydrocarbon mixture is passed out of reactor 24 by way of line 41. This stream contains the alkylate product, unreacted isobutane, a small amount of unreacted ethylene and pentanes as Well as BF3. The stream from line 41 is passed into gas separator 42 where the BF3, isobutane, some pentanes and some alkylate product are taken overhead by way of line 43. The material taken overhead from the separator 42 is passed into fractionator 44.

Fractionator 44 is adapted to separate the BF3 asa gas, the isobutane as a liquid and the higher boiling materials as a bottoms product. Fractionator 44 is provided with an internal reboiler 46 and an internal condenser 47. EP3 and unreacted ethylene are taken overhead from fractionator 44 by way of line 48 and may be passed out of the system by way of valved line 49. The material from line 49 may berperiodically passed to a BF3 purication operation to remove non-condensable insert gases which build up in the system. Ordinarily the stream from line 48 is recycled by wayvof valved lines 29 and lines 28` and 23 to reactor 24. l

Isobutane is withdrawn as a liquid stream by way of line 51 and is recycled by way of lines 18 and 17 to mixer 13 for reuse in the process. Bottoms product from fractionator 44 is withdrawn by way of line 52 and may be passed to storage or further processing by way of valved line 53. This stream from line 52 consists substantially of isopentane. Some unsaturated C5 hydrocarbons are also present and also a small amount of higher boiling alkylate material.

The liquids separated in gas separator 42 are passed by way of line 56 into fractionator 57. The bottoms product from fractionator 44 may be passed by way of valved line 58 and line 56 intoV fractionator 57 for complete removal of the alkylate material. In this embodiment, the bottoms are passed to fractionator S7.

Fractionator 57 is provided with an internal reboiler 55 and is adapted to produce the desired alkylate products from the hydrocarbon product mixture entering from line 56. A vapor stream is taken overhead by way of line 61, is condensed in cooler 62 and is passed to storage by way of line 63. The material from line 63 consists substantially of isopentane and some unsaturated C5 material. This material may be used as a high octane blending stock for the production of motor gasoline of the desired volatility characteristics.

The alkylate product herein is considered to be that boiling above the pentane range and boiling below the maximum temperature usable in motor gasoline. In general, a 415 F. endpoint alkylate is blendable into motor gasoline without adverse eiect in a specication calling for a 400 F. gasoline endpoint. Thus the alkylate product is considered to be the material boiling between about the lower limit of the hexane range and 415 F. inthe ASTM distillation procedure. i

A considerable difference exists between the octane number of the C6 fraction of the alkylate product and the higher boiling material. The C5 fraction, which boils from about to 170 F., has an F-l octane number of 101. The C7| material has an octane number which ranges between about 75 and 85, depending somewhat on the fractionation.

Light alkylate, which includes all the C6 material and some of the C7 material, is withdrawn from fractionator 57 by way of line 66. Heavy alkylate, which includes most of the C, and material boiling up to 415 F. is with drawn from fractionator 57 by way of line 67. A small amount of higher boiling bottoms is withdrawn by way of line 68.

In general, the C6 fraction of the alkylate product will contain from about 86 to about 90 mole percent of diisopropyl (2,3-dimethylbutane). 2-methylpentane and 3- methylpentane represent substantially the remainder of the C6 product. Generally, only trace amounts of n-hexane are present.

The results obtainable by the process of the instant invention are set out in illustrative runs below.

In Table I, there are set out results in the testing ot various metal molybdate hydrates by means of batch operation. In these runs, the tests were carried out under what are more or less standard conditions, namely, a 4-liter carbon steel bomb was dried overnight in a stream of hot air at 110 C. The molybdate to be tested (90 grams) was charged to the bomb as a powder and the bomb was evacuated. One kilogram of a dry blend of ethylene and isobutane was added and then BF3 (90 grams) was pressured in. The charged bombs were placed in a rocker and allowed to rock for 20 hours. At the end of this time a liquid sample was drawn through a bomb containing activated alumina (to remove dissolved BPB and salt particles). This sample was submitted for Podbielniak distillation. A C5 cut from the Podbielniak distillation was analyzed by mass spectrometer. In some cases after sampling, the remaining major porting gf ich@ i product was debutanized on an Oldershaw column and then fractionated on a packed column.

In run No. 1, the operation was carried out as described above except that no salt was present in the bomb. The results show that only 34% of depentanized alkylate product was obtained by the use of BPB alone as the catalyst. These runs show cobaltous molybdate and ferrie molybdate hydrates to be the most ellective salt hydrates, while nickelous molybdate was only mildly effective.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein said isoparan is isobutane.

4. The process of claim 2 wherein said isoparafn is diisopropyl.

5. The process of claim 2 wherein said olefin is ethylene.

6. The process of claim 2 wherein said olefin is propylene tetramer.

7. The process of claim 2 wherein said salt is cobaltous molybdate.

TABLE l Run No 1 2 3 4 5 Molybdate N 011e COMOOMLO F2(M004)3.2H20 N iM0O4.H2O ZnM0O4,H2O

Conditions: i

Isobutane/Ethylene (molar) 3.0 2. 5 2. S 2. 5 2. 8 Hydrocarbon/Salt (weight) 11.4 11. 4 11.8 11.0 BFS/Ethylene (weight) 0.7 0. G 0. 8 0.8 0 7 Time, l-Iours. 20 20 20 20 20 Temperature, C... 25-35 20-3O 25-30 20-30 20-25 Pressure (Range), p. 300 308-225 295-215 320-240 290-265 Results: 1 D t 1 d) l t ercent) t Alktne I. T l 13 17 0 0 21 2 65 78 50 10 iiiiiiii: 13 83 5g 43 0 TOlZal 34 148 137 93 .10

Ethylene Converted, percent 72 88 55 1 Podbielnialr and mass spectrometer analyses, based on ethylene charged.

2 94% 2,3-dimethylbutane.

Thus having described the invention what is claimed 1. An alkylation process comprising contacting (a) an alkylatable feed hydrocarbon from the class consisting ot' (l) isoparaitin having from 4 to 8 carbon atoms and (2) aromatic hydrocarbon and (b) an olei'in having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms, in the presence of a catalyst comprising essentially (i) a metal molybdate salt containing water of hydration, 'the metal ion of said salt being from the class consisting of cobaltous and ferrie, and (ii) B133, said 151% being present in an amount in excess of about 1 mole per mole of water of hydration in said salt, at a temperature between about 30 C. and a temperature substantially below the temperature at which said hydrate salt decomposes, and at a pressure sul cient to maintain a substantial portion of said reactants in the liquid state, and. separating a hydrocarbon product mixture containing alkylate product of said feed hydrocarbon and said olefin.

2. An alkylation process wherein an isoparai'ln having from 4 to 8 carbon atoms and an oletin having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms are contacted, in a molar ratio of isoparaiin to olefin between about 2 and 50, at a temperature between about 20 C. and 150 C. and a pressure between about 100 and 2G00 s. i., said pressure being at least sufficient to keep a substantial portion of said reactants in the liquid state, for a time suicient to per mit an appreciable amount of alkylation reaction to take place, in the presence of a catalyst comprising essentially (i) a metal molybdate salt containing water of hydration, the metal ion component being selected from the Class consisting yof cobaltous and ferrie, and (ii) boron trifluoride, said EP3 being present in an amount in excess of one mole per mole of hydrate water present in said salt, removing a product hydrocarbon mixture from said contacting Zone and an alkylate hydrocarbon product is separated from said mixture.

8. The process of claim 2 wherein said salt is ferrie molybdate.

9. The process of claim 2 wherein said temperature is between about 25 C. and 40 C.

10. The process of claim 2 wherein the BF?, is present in an amount, in excess of 1 mole per mole of hydrate water, such that the free-B113 to olehn weight ratio is between about 0.2 and 1.5.

1l. An alkylation process which comprises contacting isobutane and ethylene in a molar ratio of isobutane to ethylene between about 2 and 25 at a temperature between about 20 C. and 100 C. at a pressure between about 200 and 1000 p. s. i., said pressure being suicient to keep a substantial portion or said reactants in the liquid state for a time sulcient to permit an appreciable amount o'f alkylation reaction to take place, in the presence of a catalyst pair comprising essentially (a) a salt-BFS complex consisting of a metal molybdate salt containing water of hydration, the metal ion component being selected from the class consisting of cobaltous and ferri-c, and about 1 mole of EP3 per mole or" hydrate water present in said salt and (b) boron triuoride in an amount such that the weight ratio of free-EP3 to ethylene charged is at least about 0.2, removing product hydrocarbon mixture containing allrylate product from said contacting zone and separating alltylate hydrocarbon product from unreacted isobutane and ethylene.

12. The process of claim 11 wherein said temperature is between about 25 C. and 40 C.

13. The process of claim 11 wherein said free-BF3/ ethylene weight ratio is between about 0.35 and 1.

Tropsch Feb. 21, 1939 Bruner etal May l5, 1945 

1. AN ALKYLATION PROCESS COMPRISING CONTACTING (A) AN ALKYLATABLE FEED HYDROCARBON ATOMS AND (2) (1) ISOPARAFFIN HAVING FROM 4 TO 8 CARBON ATOMS AND (2) AROMATIC HYDROCARBON AND (B) AN OLEFIN HAVING FROM TO 12 CARBON ATOMS, IN THE PRESENCE OF A CATALYST COMPRISING ESSENTIALLYY (I) A METAL MOLYBDATE SALT BEING FROM WATER OF HYDRATION, THE METAL ION OF SAID SALT BEING FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF COBALTOUS AND FERRIC, AND (II) BF3, SAID BF3 BEING PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF ABOUT 1 MOLE PER MOLE OF WATER OF HYDRATION IN SAID SALT, AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT -30*C. AND A TEMPERATURE SUSTANTIALLY BELOW THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH SAID HYDERATE SALT DECOMPOSES, AND AT A PRESSURE SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF SAID REACTANTS IN THE LIQUID STATU, AND SEPERATING A HYDROCARBON PRODUCT MIXTURE CONTAINING ALKYLATE PRODUCT OF SAID FEED HYDROCARBON AND SAID OLEFIN. 